Star gazing event at Purchase Knob

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is hosting a star gazing event at 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 31, at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center on Purchase Knob in Haywood County.

At 5,000 feet in elevation, with a 260-degree, unobstructed view of the sky, Purchase Knob provides one of the best places in the park for star viewing. The Astronomy Club of Asheville will guide the viewing and visitors can expect to see the planet Saturn and the moon.

There will also be an indoor educational session on the night sky, which will be held rain or shine. The program is limited to 60 people so reservations are required and can be made by phone. Fills quickly. Purchase Knob is located off U.S. 276 near Maggie Valley.

The Naturalist's Corner

My family and I made a quick run up to Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway around dusk last Sunday (July 19) to get a peek at some celestial luminaries. Venus and Jupiter joined the waxing crescent moon on the western horizon. They danced and played hide and seek amidst layered clouds whose purple backs touched the night while their bellies bathed in the last yellow and orange rays of the sun falling over the western horizon. It was a beautiful, tranquil setting.